The Day the Tower Shrank
by TARDISTraveller
Summary: After an argument with Tony, Scott accidentally shrinks the Avengers Tower with half of the Avengers still inside. Or, I pick random pieces of continuity from canon to give the Avengers more hangout time in the Avengers Tower. And Thor is getting his poptarts.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

Scott Lange had a wonderful house, filled with wonderful memories of his daughter. But now he was an Avenger, and one of the perks of being an Avenger was to get your own floor in the Avengers Tower. How many times could he use the word 'Avenger' before he stopped grinning? Probably a lot. Probably forever.

Okay, he maybe wasn't officially an Avenger. But he did fight some of them in an airport in Germany, and he had just as many superpowers as half of the 'real' Avengers, anyway.

With this in mind, he walked into a room filled with Earth's greatest defenders. Thor and Captain America were on the sofa. Hawkeye could be heard rummaging around the vents. Nat and Bruce were off somewhere else. But today, Scott only wanted to speak to one person.

"Er, Mr. Stark?" Scott said hesitantly.

Tony turned around with rolling eyes.

"Please just call me…"

"Iron Man, right, sorry," Scott said quickly.

Tony's face fell.

"I was just wondering...have you finished designing my floor yet?"

Tony's lips quirked into a devilish smile. He hid it just as quickly as it had come.

"Actually, er, 'Ant Man', I made something special for you."

Scott's eyes lit up.

"You did? Wait, for me? Seriously?"

He breathed in the moment. Iron Man. Tony-freaking-Stark had designed something for him. What? How had his life gotten to be this…

Scott's smile was dashed away at the sight of the object in Tony's hand. A thin glass rectangle, filled with sand.

An ant farm. Not even one of the cool ones.

Tony patted his shoulder just a little too hard.

"Little payback from Germany," Tony said, with that same smirk on his face.

On the sofa, Steve rolled his eyes.

"Tony, leave him alone. We said we were over all that."

Tony spun around to face Steve, but Pepper walked in front of him to block his view, shifting her purse onto her shoulder.

"Is he giving you guys trouble?" She asked over her shoulder. "Come on, we're on coffee duty today."

She put her arm around Tony and guided him away from the others, touching a hand on Scott's shoulder as she passed.

"Don't take him too seriously. Teasing is his way of saying he likes you."

"I don't tease."

"Yes! You do!"

The other Avengers chuckled to themselves as the couple walked off in their playful squabble. Scott was still staring at the children's ant farm in his hands.

"You can come sit with us," Steve suggested, shifting over on the couch. "Thor made poptarts."

"The s'mores tart is my favorite," Thor said, with half of a poptart in his mouth.

Scott smiled softly, but shook his head.

"Nah, thanks guys. I'm just gonna, er, find somewhere to put my present."

Scott trailed after Pepper and Tony, letting the ant farm fall to his side as he walked.

. . . . . . . . . .

When Scott reached the front of the building, a horde of people were blocking the pathway. Cameras were flashing, microphones held high in the air.

Ah. Right. They were all shouting for Tony, who at least seemed to be trying to push his way through them.

Scott craned his neck, but he couldn't see above or around the crowd. They were blocking literally the entire sidewalk in both directions. And they didn't look like they were moving any time soon.

Scott groaned. And then his eye caught that of a young reporter standing near the back of the crowd, closer to the Avengers Tower entrance. He waved with an awkward smile, and the reporter came closer.

"Did you just exit the Avengers Tower?" The eager young man asked excitedly.

Scott nodded.

"Yes. Yes I did. I'm sort of an Avenger."

The man looked puzzled.

"Er, what's your alias?" The reporter asked anxiously, holding out a recording device.

"I'm Ant Man," Scott said proudly.

The reporter looked as lost as ever.

"I got big in Germany?"

The reporter shrugged.

"I don't really follow German media."

"No, I mean," Scott sighed. "Literally big. And in San Francisco last year? You had to see that."

"Oh, right! Ant Man! Germany!" The reporter smiled, excited again. "But didn't you fight against Iron Man in Germany? What was that about? He's one of our biggest heroes here, man."

Scott rolled his eyes, wanting to disappear. Then he remembered something.

"Sorry to cut this interview short…"

He pulled out the remote with the Pym Particles from his pocket, clicked it toward himself, and...didn't shrink. He searched around himself and found a tiny ant farm in his hand.

The reporter apparently lost interest, shaking his head and walking off with the crowd now trailing after Tony and Pepper down the sidewalk. Scott frowned, wishing to be in San Francisco. Wishing to be anyway else, really.

As he stood, he fiddled with the remote in his hand, missing home. Missing Hope. Missing Cassie. Even missing Dr. Pym. Feeling angry. A bit hurt.

Suddenly a shadow lifted, literally, and the sun was glaring at him from behind. Scott turned around, not sure what to expect.

But certainly not this.

The Avengers Tower had shrunk. The tiny structure, once part of the New York skyline, stood in the center of a vast square block of dirt. It looked like a toy. A trick, or a joke.

Scott's heart dropped. But he could fix this. Before this leaked out, before anyone noticed, he could fix this. He looked down at the remote in his hand, changing the settings.

And just then, a voice from above called out. Or, more, started shouting.

"Miiiiisteeer Staaaark!"

Scott's head shot up just in time to see a string - web? - dangling in the air. And then something slammed into him from above, knocking him back onto the sidewalk.

The remote flew out of his hand, bouncing along the concrete. In a flash, Scott was scrambling to his feet. But the remote was in the street and...oh no.

A taxi ran right over it. Then a bus. Then another bus, just because today was the worst day ever.

Scott closed his eyes, took a breath. This could all be fixed. He was sure of it. But it was definitely getting out now. Tony would never let him set foot in the tower again.

"Oops," a voice said above him. A kid in a backpack. The kid from Germany.

"Wait, you're the guy who got really big in Germany, aren't you?" Peter asked excitedly.

Scott stayed on his knees with his head in his hands for a long moment.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

"Er, Tony?" Pepper said, mouth agape staring at the buildings ahead of them.

"What? Good thing? Bad thing?"

Tony followed her gaze to...that was strange. He was sure they'd come down the same street they always did. And they could always see the Avengers Tower looming in the distance. Today it wasn't there; like a missing tooth in the New York skyline.

"Did we make a wrong turn?"

Pepper shook her head, the coffee holder nearly slipping out of her hands as she stared blankly ahead.

Tony caught it rapidly in his free hand, pushing in back up into her grasp so it wouldn't fall over.

"Woah, let's drink it, not wear it, okay? Let's...not panic. I'm sure there's an explanation. Babe," he gave her a smile. "It'll be fine."

She smiled back, if a little more hesitantly, and they continued on their walk. They joked, and made wild accusations of what might have happened, or what might have been in the coffee they'd been drinking. But when they reached the corner, they found the patch of dirt that definitely wasn't there before. And, in the center of it, what looked like a child's playset of Stark Tower.

Tony's smile vanished instantly. And when he saw Peter, leaning on a nearby wall, his eyes went furious.

"Was this you?"

Peter's hands flew up into the air.

"No, Mr. Stark, I just got here."

"Oh yeah? Because that looks like one of your LEGO sets. Is someone putting you up to this?"

Tony didn't mean to be so harsh, but really; the kid was old enough to know a joke like this wasn't funny. There were people in that building. And pretty soon the news people would be here asking a million questions, crowding him out, hypothesizing about aliens and mentioning That Day in 2012...oh no.

"Tony, breathe," Pepper said soothingly, shoving her coffee holder into Peter's hands. She took hold of Tony's shoulders and stroked the back of his hair as he gasped for air. "Shhh, shh."

"Er, it was me," Scott said, grimacing. "Sorry."

"You?" Tony broke out of Pepper's hold, his anxiety attack seemingly forgotten already. Although shorter, he seemed to loom over Scott as he approached him, fuming.

"What the hell, Ant Man?"

"You can call me Scott." He sighed. "Look, I'm sorry, Tony. It was an accident."

"An accident? How do you accidentally shrink an entire building?"

"The same way I accidentally grew sixty feet tall!" Scott looked from Tony to Peter. "I tried to fix it, and then he came crashing in and made me drop the remote."

Peter held up his hands again.

"I was just swinging in to visit, and then the building shrank down while my web was still attached."

Tony sighed, rubbing a hand over his face.

"Okay, so where's the remote now?"

Scott scratched the back of his neck.

"I dropped it."

"You…" Tony lowered his hands. "You dropped it? Where?"

Scott grimaced, looking everywhere except Tony's eyes.

"Er...into the street. Under a bus. Two buses. And a taxi."

Tony closed his eyes.

"Do you have another one?"

Scott sucked air between his teeth.

"Not exactly. They're kinda rare."

Tony's head flashed back to him.

"Are you telling me you can't fix this?"

Scott closed his eyes, then turned back to Tony.

"I know someone who can…"

"Okay…" Tony cocked his head.

"But he lives in San Francisco."

Tony's eyes inflated as he started toward Scott, held back by Pepper and Peter. Slowly, they got him to calm down, only letting go of him when he didn't look like he was ready to kill.

"I can go right now and pick up another remote," Scott assured, pointing a thumb over his shoulder.

Tony sighed, rubbing a hand over his face.

"Okay. Okay. We don't have another choice, so…"

"So I'll go to San Francisco, then." Scott sighed, glancing around. "Man, can I have a ride to the airport, or…? It's really far."

Tony leaned toward him.

"I would love to. But someone's shrunk all of my suits."

Scott closed his eyes again.

"Right. Knew that. Okay, I'll get going then." He started off, walking slowly, then turned around again. "Getting that remote…"

Peter suddenly pulled something out of his pocket.

"You can take my Metrocard."

He held it out for Scott, but Tony put his arm up as a barrier between them.

"Nope. I vote that Ant-thony Ant-therson should get there by himself."

Scott sighed, but nodded in agreement.

"That's fair. Alright. I'll be back as soon as I can."

As Scott dashed off to the closest subway station, Tony, Pepper, and Peter sat on the stoop of the closest shop, a closed shoe store. Pepper and Tony each set their coffee holders down and started drinking from their cups. As Peter sat rubbing his hands together, Tony slid the carrier toward him.

"Take your pick. The rest of them are too small to drink them now anyway."

Peter felt a little guilty at first, but ultimately took one of the drinks for himself. The whole situation was so strange, it was hard to even comprehend what was going on. He took a sip of his coffee and shook his head, wondering what it's tiny owner might be up to in the tiny Stark Tower.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Just after Tony, Pepper, and Scott were out of the room, Clint dropped down from the vent in the wall above the sofa, landing in a perfect cross-legged sitting position beside Steve.

"I smelled s'mores," he said simply, eyes darting from Steve to Thor.

"Thor made some pop tarts," Steve said, grabbing three of the tarts. He passed two of them to Clint, biting into the third one himself.

"You know, once you've had the real thing, these are just disappointing," Clint said dejectedly. He did, however, take almost half of one into his mouth a moment later.

"Everyone's had s'mores before, Clint," Steve said, rolling his eyes. "Even I have, albeit seventy years ago."

"I haven't!" Thor said, raising his hand. "You guys never show me the best things about Jotunheim."

Clint took another bite of his pop tart and leaned back into the sofa.

"I'll get you to the farm one of these days, big guy."

Steve finished his tart and hopped to his feet.

"I'm gonna go see what the others are up to."

He walked off in the direction of the lab but, once out of sight, turned off toward the staircase. After checking that the coast was clear, he entered the stairwell and dashed up to Thor's floor, entering in the code 'Point Break' to unlock the door.

As the door opened, Steve smirked to himself. Tony was a smart man, but sometimes he could be so predictable. His own password was always either 'Ice Cap' or the classic 'Capsicle', depending on the day. And Hawkeye's of course, was 'Legolas'.

Steve shut the door quietly behind him and looked around. Thor always fronted that he was Mr. Regal, a king, a God. But everyone knew he was a big goofball underneath it all. The walls of his floor were covered in random posters of movies, most of which Steve had never heard of. And the bedroom, when Steve peeked into it, looked like a college student's.

But Steve didn't have time to go through all of Thor's rooms. He was on a mission. Carefully, he stole into the kitchen. Mjolner sat on the counter beside the toaster, quietly begging Steve to pick it up. He'd gotten it to move before. And once, he'd been able to lift it off the floor for just a second. One more try and it would be in the air.

He knew he was worthy. He just had to prove it.

Steve took a deep breath, stretching his fingers to make then ready. Then he grounded his feet, reached out, and took hold of the handle.

"Okay, Steve. You can do this," he whispered to himself.

Slowly, carefully, he began to pull up. It didn't budge at first, infinitely heavy. It felt immovable. Like trying to lift an airplane.

Steve let go, shaking out his hands again.

"I got this. I got this."

He didn't let himself hesitate this time. Hands grasped around the handle, he lifted with all of his might.

And the hammer was in the air! It was in his hands, rising above the counter!

Steve let out a shocked laugh, almost afraid of the weight he was now holding. He carefully adjusted his grip around the handle. It felt light; no heavier than a normal hammer. And yet a moment before, it had been heavier than a truck.

What a strange, wonderful world he'd entered the day he took that serum.

Too excited to contain it, Steve dashed back to the staircase with Mjolnir still in his grasp. He took the steps two at a time. Through the doors, around the corner, down toward the lab.

"Bruce! Bruce!" He called, smiling wide. Mjolnir was still in his hands. He was flying.

"Yes?" Bruce asked, eyes focused through a microscope, voice just a tiny bit irritated by the distraction.

"Look!"

Bruce turned, his eyes widening at the sight before him.

"Holy...I couldn't even lift that when…"

Steve looked down at the hammer in his hand. With a smug smile, he flipped it in the air…

Only, when he tried to catch it, he was yanked down with it into the beakers and high tech gadgets sitting on the lab bench. The world exploded into crashes and bangs, and what felt like a miniature earthquake.

When the chaos was over, Bruce was huddled by his unoccupied seat with his lab coat splayed out around him. And Mjolnir was still in Steve's grasp, but on the floor. It was frozen to the ground.

Surrounded by broken glass, chemicals, and broken metal pieces, Steve shut his eyes and groaned. He'd fallen right into the metal lab bench, hard enough to push it aside, and his arms had scraped almost every beaker on the way down.

To add literal insult to injury, Thor and Clint were barreling toward the lab at top speed.

"What just happened?" Clint asked, eyes darting from Steve to Bruce.

Thor was the first to notice Mjolnir. He stomped toward the fallen man and easily stole the hammer from his grasp.

"I've told you playing with this is dangerous," Thor sighed. "It is only for the worthy."

"I am worthy!" Steve said, cheeks blushing pink.

"Obviously not enough," Bruce spat back, flecks of green running along his neck. His head sank down as he tried to breathe slower.

"Clint," Steve said, rising to his knees with his eyes locked on Bruce.

"I'll get Nat," Clint replied, running off toward the staircase.

He returned a minute later with Nat right behind him. Fortunately, Bruce was still only slightly Hulking-out, his eyes and veins pulsing with green every now and then.

Natasha rushed to his side, placing a steadying hand on his back.

"Hey, big guy. Sun's getting real low," she said softly.

Her voice and presence seemed to do the trick, as Bruce breathed deeper and more calmly, the green subsiding in bursts.

As the gang relaxed from the latest commotion, Sam suddenly burst into the lab.

"Have any of you looked outside?"

"No," Steve said, cleaning off his arms in the sink. "Why? Something happen?"

"Come and look."

Thor and Clint trailed after Sam into the hallway, then into the main common room. With windows on all sides, the situation was made clear.

Dirt surrounded them, and in the distance, tall buildings. Way taller than the one they were in, which was supposed to be one of the highest in New York. The people and cars outside looked like giants, when a moment earlier they'd been ants twenty floors below them.

As Steve walked in, all eyes turned to him.

"What did I do?" He asked himself.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

Peter was just finishing up his coffee when the unmistakable sound of breaking glass made his ears perk up. Tony and Pepper hadn't heard, both rapt up with their conversation about soy versus whole milk. But Peter's hair was on edge, eyes narrowing.

Something was wrong. (Something other than the tiny Stark Tower sitting behind him).

He stood, dropped his cup into a trashcan, and peeked down the street. Cars still rolled past, people walking. It looked like a normal New York day, with just a few extra journalists taking pictures of the Tower.

Peter didn't trust it. His Spidey sense hadn't failed him yet, and he wasn't' about to start mistrusting it now.

He turned to the other two and found Tony staring at him.

"What's up, kid?"

Peter opened his mouth to tell him, but closed it just as suddenly. He couldn't let them worry about him. Had to make it casual.

"I, er, forgot something. I have to go pick it up. At my house, er, apartment."

Tony didn't looked impressed, but Pepper allayed his suspicions with a hand on his shoulder.

"Have a nice night, Peter."

As the couple started into another quiet debate, Peter grabbed his bag and started walking off, following his Spidey sense. Before he was ten feet down the street, however, Tony's voice called him back again.

"Hey, kid, Queens is that way!"

Peter blushed, nodding.

"Right," he laughed, horribly unconvincingly. "Thank you, Mr. Stark."

As Peter passed back in front of them, Tony jumped to his feet.

"Alright, kid, what is it?"

"Nothing!" Peter squeaked.

Tony didn't even bother a response. Peter sighed.

"I feel like something's going down nearby. Nothing I can't handle…"

"No way." Tony held up a hand. "Nope, I'm not allowing it."

"But Mr. Stark…"

"Half of the Avengers are locked in the Tower, where all of our backup weapons and defenses are...so no. You're not going crime fighting right now. Leave it to the police."

Peter gave him a look.

"Pete, the answer is no. Have another coffee, call 911 if it's really bothering you."

Peter huffed, but came back to his perch beside Pepper. Tony glanced at his watch, and then sat next to Peter.

"When you're with us, it's our job to keep you safe," Tony explained. "I'm not letting you walk into danger knowing I can't help out if you need it. I'm not having that on my conscience."

Peter nodded, understanding. But still a bit ticked off.

"I was given these powers for a reason, Mr. Stark. It feels like a waste if I don't use them. And people might be getting hurt. If you've got a lot on your conscience, think about me."

Tony's head whipped toward him, and for a moment a flash of anger lit up his eyes. But then he softened, and put a hand on Peter's shoulder.

"If it means that much to you…"

Pepper gave Tony a look.

"What?"

She shook her head and rolled her eyes.

"Peter," she said sternly. "When you're eighteen, you can do all of the daredevil stunts you want. But til then, you're going to sit with us and let the adults handle it."

Peter opened his mouth to respond, but Tony patted his shoulder again.

"I wouldn't argue with her. You'll lose. Trust me, I've got experience."

Peter let his shoulders relax, and then let himself smile. If there really was trouble, then the adults who deal with that sort of thing will deal with it. He could chill. He could sit and drink his coffee with Mr. Stark and Ms. Potts and…

The hair on Peter's arm shot up, just before a loud blast went off right down the street from where they were. Car horns blared, people shouted, and suddenly there was practically a stampede of a crowd running down the road.

They were running from the same place where he'd heard the glass breaking.

Another blast went off, closer this time. It rocked the ground beneath them and caused half of the coffee to spill over onto the pavement. Peter jumped to his feet, tearing his outer layers off to reveal the Spiderman suit beneath.

Tony gave him a furrowed brow.

"You wear that thing all the time?"

"Wouldn't you wear yours all the time if you could?" Peter asked, covering his face with his mask.

More glass broke at the store beside them, as another blast tried to upend Tony and Pepper.

"Mr. Stark, get out of here!" Peter shouted, webbing his backpack to the wall. "I'll take care of it."

"I'm not leaving you, kid," Tony said sternly.

Across the street, behind the horse of people running, stood a man wearing a facemask. He carried some kind of blaster, which was glowing a strangely bright shade of purple. Peter turned back to Tony and Pepper, who were completely unprotected. Both already had small scrapes on their face and arms from the broken glass.

"Mr. Stark, er, no offense, but you don't have any powers. I'll be fine, just get somewhere safe."

Tony shoved a small device into his hand.

"Put this on, anywhere on the suit. It's a tracker and a communication device."

"Cool!" Peter set the device over the left side of his chest and it melded into his suit.

Tony started down the road, but Pepper first went to Peter. She touched a hand to his shoulder.

"Peter, sweetie, stay safe."

"Will do, Ms. Potts," Peter said, giving her a thumbs-up.

Tony and Pepper backed up, still watching Peter, and then sprinted off down the road among the rest of the remaining passersby. Peter dropped his hand back to his side, feeling suddenly alone.

Yet not alone enough.

"Hello Spiderman," a gravelly voice behind him said.

Peter had just enough time to dodge a strike to his back, swinging onto a stopped, empty bus for safety.

"Heads up!" He shouted playfully, swinging back down with his legs straight in front of him.

Somehow, he managed to hit the blaster very hard without knocking it out of the man's grasp. It did, however, mess up his trajectory enough to send him rolling across the ground, coming to rest between two taxis.

"Charlotte!" He suddenly heard Tony's voice shout in his ear.

"Ow," he groaned, getting up and running between cars to avoid the armed man. "Who's Charlotte?"

"Charlotte's Web? A spider...nevermind. How's it going?"

"The guy is definitely armed. And traffic is completely stopped."

"That's just a day in New York City," Tony murmured. "Do you need backup?"

"No, no; I'm fine," Peter said, biting back a groan as his shin hit the lip of a car's bumped. "It's kinda...quiet."

He dared say it, and then the silence was broken. Another blast and the car in front of him went flying sideways into the sidewalk. Luckily, nobody was in or around it. But it did expose Peter completely to the guy with the blaster, who now only had one clear target.

"Uh oh," Peter squeaked, then jumped over another car, using it as leverage to get to the top of a truck nearby.

"Uh oh?" Tony said, voice rising. "What's uh oh?"

"Errr," Peter stammered, as the truck beneath him was blown sideways like the car before. He let out a quick shout before shooting a web onto the closest building and swinging.

This time, his kick knocked the weapon out of the guy's hands. Another web shot from the sky and the weapon was securely taped to the ground.

Peter stopped on the awning of a restaurant, taking a deep breath. When the now weaponless man took a step into his view, he shot his web out and glued the guy to the car behind him. Another web and he was completely stuck.

Peter let out a celebratory whoop, then heard that broken glass again down the street. He started toward it without hesitation.

"Good news," he said to his suit, "The guy with the blaster is taken care of. Bad news, I think it was a distraction."

"Kid, just get out of there," Tony said, the anxiety clear in his voice. "You helped out, now let the feds handle it."

"You said I could fight!" Peter said, irritated.

"Yeah, I wasn't thinking. Come sit with us in the park until this blows over."

Peter froze on the sidewalk, his heart pulling him in two directions. He didn't want to worry Mr. Stark, or disappoint him. But he also couldn't let his city down either.

Just then, his eye caught a young boy, crying on the opposite sidewalk. He was five, maybe six. All alone in this wasteland that had been a buzzing city street just ten minutes ago.

Peter groaned.

"Okay, Mr. Stark, I really, really will come and join you in the park in, like, five minutes. But first, there's this kid...he's by himself, Mr. Stark. I can't just…"

"Okay," Tony acquiesced. "Get the kid, then come straight here. We'll find his family when the chaos is all over."

"Got it," Peter said, meaning it.

He looked both ways, then crossed the street and knelt in front of the young boy.

"Hi, I'm Spiderman," Peter said in his normal voice. No need to fake it in front of the kid.

The boy's sniffling stopped, at least, even if he couldn't manage a smile.

"How about we go piggy-back, okay?" Peter said, turning so the kid could grab onto his shoulders.

But before the boy could move, the sound of broken glass came again, catching Peter's attention. He looked left and saw a purple glow starting. His eyes widened.

"Get behind me!" He shouted, covering the kid with his body.

A science fiction-like noise came warbling out of the alleyway, and then a pulse that broke all of the glass in the area. Peter was thrown by the blast, still cradling the kid in his arms. He landed on his side, guarding the young boy's head with his hands as they fell.

Feeling like he'd been hit with a truck, Peter softly groaned, barely hearing Tony's frantic voice in his ear.

"Kid! Peter! Peter, you alright?"

"Missrr 'ark?"

His ears were buzzing, but he definitely heard a siren coming closer. Many sirens. And, it sounded like, a helicopter. Yes, when he opened his eyes, he saw the 'copter looming above, reading NYPD.

Peter smiled. Then felt his heart skip a beat.

He breathed a sigh of relief when he found the boy still cradled in his arms, crying but okay. He was feeling better, too, as he woke. Less stiff. More alive.

Running footsteps approached, clanging against the pavement, and then Tony was huddled above him. His eyes were shining, bright, as he yanked Peter's mask off and looked him over.

"I couldn't let the kid get hurt," Peter groaned, lips quirking into a smile.

Tony let out an anxious laugh.

"Welcome to my life, kid."

Pepper came next, worrying over Peter until she started worrying over the young boy instead. She scooped him off of Peter's chest and held him firmly in her grasp.

"Never do that to us again," she said sternly to Peter.

Peter nodded.

Tony helped him sit up. And then, before anything else, pulled him into a tight hug. Peter smiled at the feeling, feeling all of injuries dull in comparison. Then he looked at the boy, who Pepper had somehow gotten to smile. He pushed out of her lap and, as soon as Tony had pulled away, wrapped his arms around Peter's neck.

"Thank you, Spiderman," the boy murmured.

Peter's smile widened, and he easily returned the hug.

"No problem, buddy."

Tony dropped to a seated position next to Peter, putting an arm around him.

"What a day, huh?"

"Er, Mr. Stark?"

"Yeah, Pete?"

"Thanks for looking out for me."

Tony didn't respond, just ruffled Peter's hair, but it was enough. The four of them sat quietly for a while as the police handled the messy situation and they awaited Scott with his precious 'Pym particles'.

All of them, beside the young boy, were still wondering what was happening inside Avengers Tower.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

"This is why no one touches my hammer!" Thor said, voice rising a few decibels in his anger.

Steve raised his hands defensively, but Sam was already swooping in between the two men with a hand out toward the Asgardian.

"Hey, there's no proof that Steve did this."

"Oh, it's a coincidence?" Clint said sarcastically. He folded his arms and shook his head. "Yeah, the tower just shrank on its own."

Nat rolled her eyes. She lightly brushed the sleeve of Bruce's lab coat, as he sauntered into the room looking back to his usual self.

"What do you think happened?" She asked him. Her tone didn't take sides, only inferred a genuine curiosity and straightforwardness.

"Nothing in the lab could've done this," Bruce explained. "Me and Tony are mostly working with robotics, I mean...we don't even have that kind of technology. I wish we did."

Steve turned from Thor, eyes brightening.

"Who does have that technology?"

Bruce's head jerked up.

"Where's Scott?"

"He left," Thor said, swinging his hammer casually by his side as he thought. "He didn't even stay to eat my pop tarts."

"Does anyone have his number?" Bruce asked, tension rising in his shoulders as he started fidgeting. "If someone's got tech like that, they must've gotten it from either him or Dr. Pym. Which means one of them might be in trouble."

"Who's Dr. Pym?" Clint asked, as the team dispersed to grab their phones.

"A scientist. He's mastered particle technology, quantum physics, everything you'd need to shrink a building," said Bruce. "I've been reading his work and I can hardly understand it all."

Bruce, Clint, and Steve arrived back at their spot by the window at the same time, each holding his respective cell phone.

Steve's face was stern; the call to duty had erased all signs of embarrassment.

"So someone might have sabotaged Avengers Tower, and either Scott or a super genius might be in trouble."

"That's my interpretation of it," Bruce said, shifting his weight from foot to foot.

"I'll call Scott," Nat said, as she, Clint, Sam, and Thor joined the other three.

Everyone watched her closely as the phone rang. Once, twice, three times. Four times.

"Hey!" Scott's voice called out loudly, making Nat jerk the phone away from her ear. All of the Avengers around her breathed a sigh of relief.

"It's Scott. Scott Lange, not a Scottish guy. I might be Scottish. Anyhoo, I'm not available right now, so I'll call you later. Or earlier if we happen to invent time travel before then...or would it be after...?"

Nat clicked the phone off.

"He's not answering," she said, teeth on edge.

"I'll call Tony," Bruce replied, darting off to the side with one arm crossed and one clicking through his phone contacts.

"I'll try Scott again."

The other Avengers watched tensely as both of them made their phone calls. Nat shook her head after another try, but Bruce had a bit more success.

"Bruce!" Tony's voice shouted in his ear.

"Hey Tony, lisen, er…"

"Bruce, is everyone okay in there?"

It was one of the rare times Bruce heard genuine concern from the genius-playboy-billionaire-philanthropist. Concern and worry and anxiety were his things, not Tony's. It almost warmed his heart, though, to hear the man so panicked about his friends.

"Yeah, we're all fine. Only we can't get in touch with Scott. Something's going on, Tony, I can feel it. The building shrinks, and then Scott disappears...did you just sigh?"

"Yes...Bruce, Scott is fine. He's on an airplane; his phone's probably turned off."

"What?!"

Bruce turned to the others and held his hand over his phone.

"Scott's fine. He's on a plane."

The others looked at him strangely, so he went back to Tony for more information.

"On a plane..why?"

"Because the genius shrank the building and got hit with a rogue spiderman. Remote fell into the street and kaput! Now he's on his way to San Fran to get a new one."

In the background, Bruce heard a faint, "I said I was sorry," from Peter. Tony gave him a quick word of comfort before speaking to Bruce again.

"Just hang tight. We'll get the building back to normal ASAP."

Bruce hung up the phone and breathed.

"Scott accidentally shrank the building. He's going to San Francisco to get a new remote, so we just have to wait for him to get back."

"San Francisco? What's in San Francisco?" Steve asked.

"Dr. Pym," Bruce replied simply.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

"Er, Mister Stark?" Peter asked, bug-eyed as he stared down the street.

Tony groaned internally. Another attack? Really? Why couldn't bad guys ever catch them when they were actually ready to fight?

"What is it, kid?"

Peter simply pointed, to a man walking toward them. He was an older guy with glasses, whom Tony had no recolection of.

"Pete?" He asked, contemplating making a joke about staring at strangers. He ultimately decided to let it go.

"That's...that's Dr. Pym! I did a project about his research."

Tony's jaw dropped, as did Pepper's.

"So did we..." Pepper started. "Did we send Scott to California to talk to a guy that was in New York the whole time?"

Tony couldn't help but laugh.

"Okay, I'll call Scott soon, but you have to admit…"

"It's not funny," Pepper said seriously. "Tony…"

"Alright, I'll see if he's picking up now."

As Tony stepped aside to make the phone call, Peter's eyes widened further, still staring at the approaching scientist.

"Where is he?" Pym growled.

Peter shrank into himself, looking to Pepper for assistance.

"Umm…," he murmured.

"Scott's on his way to San Francisco," Pepper interjected, sensing Peter's panic. "He thought you were there."

Pym groaned, almost launching into a rant. He stopped himself, barely, and then pulled out a remote device. Pepper sighed in relief.

"Stand back," he muttered, then held up the device.

Tony was hardly out of the dirt chasm when Pym clicked a button and the building grew again. It happened so quickly that Peter had to blink a few times to realize everything was back to normal.

"Woah," he whispered.

"There you go," Pym said casually, then started walking off.

"Wait, er, Dr. Pym, sir?" Peter stammered as the scientist turned back to him. "Can I have your autograph?"

Pym smiled, sharing a look with Pepper, and then pulled out a pen.

"Sure, kid. Not a question I get asked a lot."

Peter laughed excitedly, grabbing a graded essay out of his backpack.

"I wrote about your work for a project I did. For my physics class. I'm Peter, by the way."

"Hank." Pym shook Peter's hand, and then signed his name in the top corner of the paper. He handed it back with another smile.

"There you go, Peter. Stay in school, don't do drugs...all that stuff."

"Thank you Dr. Pym. Or, er, Hank. Mr. Hank."

Pym walked off, shaking his head, as Peter stared intently at his essay.

"How come you never asked me for an autograph?" Tony asked suddenly, clapping Peter on the back.

"I, er, meant to…"

"Don't worry about it, kid. It only hurts a little." Tony smiled until Peter was sure he was joking. The he gave him another stern look. "But maybe don't introduce yourself to everyone while you're wearing half of your suit?"

Peter looked down at himself, and the spiderman suit still covering all but his head. He was basically a dead giveaway right now, on this New York street, with people taking photographs of the newly-repaired Stark tower.

"Oops."

"Get inside, Kid, we'll handle the press."

Peter snatched up his backpack and ran into the building while Tony and Pepper turned to the journalists arriving on the scene. She squeezed his hand and leaned close to him.

"I can take care of this if it's too much."

"I'm fine," he assured, gazing fondly into her eyes. "As long as you're by my side."

After a deep breath, they stepped into the horde of interviewers and snapping cameras.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Scott arrived back at the Avengers tower late into the night. He was tired, sore, and humiliated. But he was glad to see the tower back to its normal state, and he was even more glad that it was quiet. When Tony had mentioned Dr. Pym having to save the day, Scott thought he'd be walking into an argument. Maybe even a 'you're-not-dating-my-daughter-now-you-irresponsible…' kind of speech.

But nope. Quiet, dark, half-lit...this was the Avengers tower at - he glanced at his watch - two thirty in the morning. The security guard lazily swiped him in, hardly glancing above his magazine.

The main common room looked the same as ever. Some of Thor's pop tarts still sat out on a tray by the couch. Machines whirred softly in the lab down the hall.

Scott set his bag on the sofa and picked up a pop tart...then he noticed the shadow standing leaned against the opposite door frame.

"Tony," he said simply, setting the pop tart back on the tray.

"The prodigal son returns."

"Listen, man, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have even had the Pym Particles, let alone tried to use them…"

Tony held up a hand and walked into the room. Dark circles sat beneath his eyes.

"What are you doing up?" Scott asked in a soft voice.

Tony shrugged, turning his eyes to the pop tarts.

"I'm always up," he murmured, then bit off half of a pop tart. "Mmm, blueberry."

Scott's lip quirked, but he didn't fully smile.

"I just wanted to check in," he said. "Is it okay if I sleep on the couch, though? I've got this meeting tomorrow morning."

Tony cocked his head.

"You can sleep wherever you want. But I thought you'd prefer to go to your own bed."

Scott's head perked up.

"What?"

"Take the elevator to the, ooh, fourteenth floor? You're an Avenger now, aren't you? Just keep it clean; no smoking, no parties that I'm not invited to, you know. The usual."

Scott shook his head with a smile.

"Tony, I don't know what to say…"

Tony waved him off, finishing off his pop tart.

"I'll be in the lab if you think of anything."

Scott grabbed his bag and headed up to his floor, typing '14' into the elevator buttons with excited, shaking fingers. Just before the doors opened, his heart sank.

What if this was another trick? What if Tony had directed him to Thor's floor or something?

Scott shook his head. No. This felt real.

The elevator doors opened and, sure enough, the front door had a picture of an ant on it. A sticky note was taped to the locked keypad, telling him that his password was 'Stuart Little'.

Scott smiled, typed in the password, and watched the door slide open. His jaw dropped as he walked into the space. In the corner was an oversized ant cooking dinner in the kitchen. To the left was a room with Cassie's name literally written all over it, with her own tiny version of a superhero suit. And on the nearest table sat an ant farm, much cooler than the other one he'd been given. It was designed to looked like a spaceship, one of the ants even running on a treadmill.

Scott dropped his bag on his bed and then hurried back to the elevator. He found Tony in the lab, just where he said he'd be, poring over a piece of a robot's machinery. It zapped every now and then, and Tony would shake his hand out, and then he'd get right back into it.

"Hey, Tony!" Scott called, accidentally shouting a bit loudly.

Tony jumped, dropping his screwdriver into the grooves within the robots arm, and then took a deep breath when he saw who it was.

"Sorry," Scott squeaked. "I can shrink down and get that for you, if you want."

"Don't you dare."

Scott held his hands up in surrender, and they shared a smile. Tony wiped his hands into a dirty rag, tossing it over his shoulder when he finished cleaning up.

"I thought you'd be going to sleep. I sent you on a bit of a wild goose chase today." Tony scratched the back of his neck. "Sorry about that."

Scott waved it off.

"It was my fault. And you've more than made up for it. The room looks great. And you even put in a spot for Cassie? That's amazing."

Tony smiled bashfully, but didn't respond.

"What are you still doing up?" Scott asked.

"I told you; I'm always up. I've got some work to do, anyway…"

"You're not still thinking about today, right? I know it made you really anxious. Can I help?"

Tony's eyes lit up, like a deer in headlights, but it was replaced with his cool facade a moment later.

"I'm fine. You should get to bed, though. You said you have a meeting?"

"Yeah, Ex-Cons, that's my company; well, my friend's; is really getting off and I'm meeting with a big client tomorrow."

Tony nodded.

"Get some sleep, Scott. We might need you tomorrow."

Scott was about to comment on how Tony should also get to sleep, but decided against it. He waved, feeling a warmth in his chest, and then walked back to his floor.

As soon as he was gone, Tony sank back into his chair and turned back to his robot. He grabbed a magnet and carefully hovered it over where he'd seen the screwdriver disappear into, searching for it. His work only lasted about a minute, however, before he heard more footsteps entering the lab.

"The kid will be fine, you know," Pepper said from the doorway. He found her leaned against the frame, eyes still bright with recent sleep. As she came into the room, he turned back to his work.

"I hope so," he said quietly, as his magnet connected to the screwdriver. He pulled it out carefully, and then snatched up the screwdriver with his opposite hand.

"Boom! Operation."

Pepper smiled softly, but placed a hand on his cheek.

"Tony, let's go back to bed."

"I'll be right there. Just need to finish this," he said, just starting yet another project with his robot.

"I know you had a nightmare," she said, closing her eyes and speaking clearly. He paused in his work. "And I know you're worried about Peter. But Tony…"

She sat in Bruce's seat beside him.

"The best way you can look after him is to look after yourself first."

They stared into each other's eyes for a moment. Then Tony relented.

"Alright. Coming."

She led him by the hand back to their room. When they were laying down, she wrapped her arm around him so he couldn't run away again, and planted a kiss on the back of his shoulder.

"You were really brave with the press earlier."

"I left after five minutes," he murmured back.

Pepper smiled.

"That's what I meant."

Tony furrowed his eyebrows together.

"Goodnight," Pepper said softly.

"Night."

"Dream about tiny towers and giant cups of coffee."

And so, Tony did just that.


End file.
